Sue Johnson
Created emotionally focused therapy for couples.
Primary developer of emotionally focused therapy for couples — an attachment-based model that reshapes negative cycles into secure bonds.
terms
techniques
Love is not the icing on the cake of life. It is a basic primary need, like oxygen.
Who they were
Born in England, Sue Johnson immigrated to Canada and earned her doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of British Columbia in 1984. With Leslie Greenberg she developed EFT, then extended it into a leading attachment-based model for couples and families, founding the International Centre for Excellence in EFT. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.
Terms they cared about
Ideas worth knowing
Their techniques
How the work was done
Their big idea
Attachment Theory of Couples
Couple distress is an attachment protest; security is rebuilt by changing the negative cycle.
The approach they founded
Emotionally Focused Therapy (Couples)
Reads couple distress through attachment needs, breaking the negative cycle and rebuilding a secure bond.
Questions in their spirit
What they’d ask you
Sit with one. Answer online, or in the app.
Carry the idea forward
Johnson — What they’d ask you
Psipas asks you one small, honest question at a time — and builds the picture from your answers.